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Broncos Must Come Up For Final

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The NRMA Insurance Broncos are preparing for one of the toughest away trips in the competition - a 'do-or-die' Semi Final in Townsville.

1300Smiles Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for the Broncos in recent times.

Brisbane has not won in Townsville since Round 20 of Season 2013 and has had their season abruptly ended at the venue three times before in 2004, 2012 and 2014.

But despite the club’s shaky record in North Queensland, Sam Thaiday believes the victory over the Melbourne Storm in the penultimate round of the home-and-away season, will hold Brisbane in good stead for Friday’s road trip.

The Storm defeated the Cowboys in Melbourne last weekend in the second Qualifying Final.

“It is a tough old place to play, always has been and always will,” former Townsville resident Thaiday said.

“You add a knock-out Semi Final on top of that, it makes the task even tougher.

“But I am looking forward to the challenge.

“It (the Storm win) definitely gives you a little bit of confidence, but we need to get back to that standard.

“Since we played Melbourne our last two matches (against the Roosters and Titans) have been pretty poor from ourselves, but we are pretty harsh critics in how we mark each other.

“We need to try and get back to that form if we want to go anywhere or do anything in this competition.”

North Queensland set up the Semi Final with Brisbane after losing their tough Qualifying Final to the Storm by 16-10.

On a wet Melbourne night handling errors were the Cowboys’ biggest enemy, but 31-year-old Thaiday believes the home side will be back to their best come Friday night.

“They would be pretty disappointed, they had a bit of a clunky game with a few handling errors,” he said.

“They will not play like that again against us.

“We really need to get off to a good start in Townsville if we want to be any threat to come home with the victory.”